Customer Reviews

The Arbitrary Sword

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Many historical novels will give you a feeling for what it was like to live in a certain place at a certain time. Ms. Goshgarian's novel makes you feel it in your bones. She tells of a young girl thrust into adulthood by the horrific events taking place around her. Victoria and her family try to survive amid the suffering of the Armenian people during their conflict with the Turks. Even more admirable is the compassion they show to neighbors and friend.

The historical facts are obviously well researched and Ms. Goshgarian's pleasant writing style propels the reader through the experience of this novel much too fast. One is left with the desire for more.

Before reading this book I knew next to nothing about the genocide the Armenian people went through during the turn of the century. This book follows Victoria from childhood to adulthood. It tells of the day to day life and struggles of living in a tragic situation while still proudly maintaining a religion and a culture. The characters and locales are so richly described I felt like I could taste the food and see the landscapes. I began to like and feel for all the characters. I can only hope this author will continue to write such interesting books. She succeeded with this debut! Congrats!

"The Arbitrary Sword" details 24 years in the life of an Armenian family in Ottoman Turkey at the turn of the 20th century. Through the eyes of the resourceful young Victoria, we learn of the joys and hardships of a hard-working farm family, and their trials under the oppression of a government that despises them--and ultimately inflicts upon them and their fellow citizens one of the era's most horrendously effective premeditated programs of mass murder.

Goshgarian has done her homework well, and her characters are both believable and likable. The story she tells is by turns fascinating, compelling, horrible and redeeming. It is also educational: the genocide perpetrated against Armenians by the Turks during and after WWI is not as widely studied, at least in the US, as it should be.

The book is not without its flaws, most of which could have been avoided by better editing. The first half might have moved more quickly with some strategic trimming and tightening, and there are some technical no-nos--ranging from references to the "Straights of Dardanelles" (later corrected to "Straits") to comma misplacements--that I found distracting. And although some mention is made of Turkish and Kurdish citizens who might have been sympathetic, there are none included, which made me wonder if they did indeed exist.

However, as it picks up pace and power, the story overrides these relatively minor annoyances--especially in the second half of the book, when I found myself staying up past my bedtime to turn the pages. Thank you, Ms. Goshgarian, for filling a blatant gap in my knowledge of history. I hope your book is widely read and enthusiastically received, and above all, that we draw from it another much-needed lesson about the deadly folly of dehumanizing our fellow man.

Susan O'Neill, Author
Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam

First time novelist Diane Goshgarian presents a coming of age story in the context of the Armenian genocide. Her narration of the harrowing experiences of our Armenian ancestors provides the dark backdrop to Victoria's movement from adolescence to womanhood. Twenty-first century Armenian Americans will recognize elements of their own ancestors' stories of their determination to survive. This blending of fiction and non fiction is a must read for Armenians and non Armenians alike.

I've read a number of histories on the genocide and they are very hard to get through. When I started reading The Arbitrary Sword, immediately I felt engaged with the lives of the characters. I wanted to turn the page to find out what happened next. It really was a book I couldn't put down.